San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel is in Los Angeles doing his media rounds ahead of Super Bowl LVI. He sat down to speak with Sports Illustrated's Ashley Nicole Moss and, naturally, was asked about his starting quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo.

Garoppolo has been Samuel's teammate since the wide receiver's arrival. The two have built a bond together. However, Samuel may have to get adjusted to a new quarterback in 2022, with the 49ers expected to transition to last year's No. 3 overall pick, Trey Lance.


The 49ers rebounded from a 3-5 start to the season, fighting their way to the NFC Championship Game and falling just short of a return to the Super Bowl. Garoppolo also fought, dealing with a torn ligament in his right thumb and, later, a right shoulder injury suffered in the Wild Card round against the Dallas Cowboys.

"I can't believe this s--- held up, to be completely honest with you," Garoppolo told Mike Silver. "The thumb, the shoulder … all of it. It was one thing after another. … Every time I threw. It was a lot."

Garoppolo was already well-respected in the 49ers locker room, but playing through the pain to be on the field with his teammates said a lot about the quarterback's toughness.

"Me personally, I could write about about me and Jimmy's relationship from being a rookie until now," Samuel told Moss. "Nobody knows the things that Jimmy goes through as a quarterback in this complicated offense, from hurting his thumb against the Titans this year and then coming back [two weeks] later, which he wasn't ready to come back. So, he just was dealing with that.

"I just give all the credit to Jimmy because he's just a fearless guy. Not too many people know that he really couldn't grip the ball the way he wanted to throw it. And also, on top of that, dealing with his shoulder injury. So, it just shows how willing and the leader that he is of this team. So that's why he gets all my respect and [the respect of] all the other players around the team."


Many have criticized Garoppolo's role during the 49ers' impressive run, saying that the talented roster carried the quarterback and not the other way around. Most don't view Garoppolo as an elite player like Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady. The 49ers wideout had an opinion on that perspective, looking back to Garoppolo's time with the New England Patriots before being traded to San Francisco.

"Reflecting back to Bill (Belichick) and Tom Brady, if Bill didn't think Jimmy was a good quarterback, he wouldn't have drafted him," Samuel shared. "So just going back to that, if you ain't think the guy was a winner, you wouldn't have drafted him.

"The only active quarterback this past season that had a better win percentage than Jimmy Garoppolo was Tom Brady. Like I said, they always say numbers don't lie. Numbers don't ever lie."

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